Criminal Investigations - September 2, 2005

Owner and Two Foremen of Interstate Moving Company Ordered to Pay $670,000 in Restitution to Victims of Household Goods Moving Scam

On September 2, Erik Deri, former owner of Nationwide Moving Systems, LLC (Nationwide), Woodinville, WA, was ordered to pay $400,000; and two ex-foremen, Yosef Nahum and Yuval Derei, were ordered to pay $200,000 and $70,000 respectively by a U.S. District Court judge in Tacoma, WA for their parts in a scheme to defraud Nationwide customers. In December 2004, all the defendants were convicted by jury on charges of extortion and conspiracy in connection with a scheme to provide low-ball moving estimates and then hold goods hostage until customers paid inflated prices.

The case involved over 50 customers with Nationwide profiting in excess of $1 million. In April 2005, all three defendants were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 30 months to 7 years. The investigation was conducted jointly with the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and the Washington State Attorney General's office, with assistance from FMCSA.